JURISDICTION
You tell your daughter to take out the garbage. The garbage is not taken out. Do you punish your son for this? Of course not. It is evil to punish one person for the sins of another. It is scandalous. It borders on the insane. Yet, Coach "Sideline" Scoppetta has "sidelined" three fine fire officers even though he knew that jurisdiction over the demolition of the Deutsche Bank building was allocated to a City agency other than FDNY.
To do inspections the right way in a highly toxic building costs money - a lot of money. Planning costs money; training costs money; equipment cost money; PPEs cost money; people cost money; overtime costs money; decontamination costs money; regular medical monitoring for toxic blood chemical costs money. "Why have two NYC agencies duplicate all of these expenses", the hierarchy of NYC reasoned. "Why not give jurisdiction to one NYC agency and save a bundle?" There would then be no wasteful duplication of effort. There would be no overlap. So, who would be in the better position to do the inspections? FDNY or NYC Department of Buildings (NYCDOB)? Who had the expertise? FDNY or NYCDOB? Who had the training? Who had the PPEs? Who was there everyday from the start of the project with multiple building inspectors instead of every 15 days?
On May 17, 2007, a meeting took place. All of the participants in the Deconstruction and Decontamination of the Deutsche Bank Building were present including FDNY. This meeting was three months before the fatal fire on August 18, 2007. Those not attending the meeting were presumably emailed the minutes of it. At the meeting, jurisdiction over the demolition of the Deutsche Bank Building was allocated. It was not allocated to FDNY. It was not allocated to FDNY and NYCDOB? Tasks were not divided between FDNY and NYC DOB. It was allocated solely and exclusively to NYC DOB. Let me quote from the document:
"The demolition of 140 [sic] Liberty Street [the Deutsche Bank Building] which would be under the jurisdiction of DOB's B.E.S.T. squad."
Furthermore, let me quote the top of the document which says
"This meeting minutes report, copies of which have been furnished to all interested parties as shown, sets forth an understanding of all comments and decisions made during this conversation. The Department [FDNY] will proceed in reliance upon the decisions and statements set forth below. If there is any discrepancies or misunderstandings, please direct them to the [FDNY's] Bureau of Technology and Support Services (with copies to all parties who receive these meeting minutes) within seven (7) days".
It is my understanding that FDNY did not send out a clarification that FDNY as well as NYC DOB had jurisdiction over the demolition. In other words, FDNY "proceeded in reliance" that NYC DOB had jurisdiction over the demolition.
Note that this is not the first time that Coach "Sideline" Scoppetta has yielded FDNY responsibility to other NYC agencies. Remember the dispute between NYPD and FDNY over emergencies. Coach "Sideline" Scoppetta yielded FDNY responsibility to NYPD. Is it any surprise that Coach "Sideline" Scoppetta would yield FDNY responsibility to NYCDOB?
This is the first document given to FreePetey.com in which the FDNY's "hands off the Deutsche Bank policy" is written. We are told there are others. To sideline three fine fire officers when FDNY had a "hands off the Deutsche Bank policy" smells of scapegoats and the stench is nauseating. Do you smell it too?
To read the actual document, click here